To make up for my long hiatus, here's the next chapter one day later. :)
"Hey," Chloe smiled when Lana came to see her at the Planet. "I was beginning to think I was living with a ghost. Not that it would be the first time. I mean, seriously, Em's been in there more than you have." She looked over at her raven-haired friend and finally saw the ashen look on her face. "Lana, are you all right?"
"I'm so scared, Chloe," Lana whispered. "I knew he was getting in too deep."
"Who?"
"Lex. They took him."
Chloe led her over to a chair and sat down across from her while Emmeline put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Tell me what happened."
Lana fought the tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to process her words. "We were in a field and there was this flash of light and Lex was taken."
"Taken where?"
"Into the black ship I saw in the meteor shower. It's back."
"Do you think Fine had something to do with this?"
"Fine was there. He said that he was preparing him. I can't believe I let this happen."
"Lana, you can't blame yourself."
"It's my fault he was involved in the first place."
"That isn't true," Emmeline told her firmly. "Lex would've gotten involved in this with or without you. He was the one who started all of this research to begin with before you ever said anything."
Lana didn't look convinced. "But…what if he's dead?"
Chloe and Emmeline shared a nervous look. They didn't much like the guy, but if he really was dead, they weren't sure Lana would ever really get over it.
"What do you mean 'taken'?" Clark asked in confusion when Chloe and Emmeline went to him in the barn.
"I mean, ripped from the earth and sucked into the sky," Chloe told him. "Now, his abductor did leave a calling card in the field, and from Lana's description, it sounded a lot like Zod's symbol."
"Lionel's drawings warned of Zod coming. Maybe it's actually happening."
"What is happening? I don't get it. I mean, I thought that Zod was trapped in that Phantom-prism other-dimension thing."
"That's what I'm worried about. Fine knows I would not release Zod willingly. He's obviously changed strategies."
"So then Lex is part of Plan B?"
"Which means Lana's gotten right in the middle of it."
"That poor girl's always caught in the middle…" Emmeline remarked.
"Look, Clark, I know what you're thinking, that she used to come to you when she was in trouble, but that's all different now. And you know what? That was your choice."
"Chloe, I don't feel like I've made any of the right choices lately. I've been so angry with Jor-El, I didn't listen. I didn't list to any of his warnings."
"But it seems like every time you turn to Jor-El, something bad happens."
"What if he's just trying to protect me? What if he's trying to protect all of us?"
"It's possible," Emmeline told him. "Ask almost any parent and they'll tell you that they'll make some pretty questionable decisions for the safety of their children. And in the past…it seems like worse things have happened because you didn't listen and follow his instructions rather than when you did."
Emmeline started to take back those words when she heard what Jor-El wanted Clark to do.
"Okay, I've heard of fathers demanding a lot of their sons, but asking you to commit murder?" Chloe asked in disbelief. "That goes way beyond domineering dad."
"Chloe, I'm not killing anyone."
"Well, I hate to say this, but disobeying Jor-El has had grim consequences."
Emmeline sighed. "One of the greatest moral questions of our time. Is ending one life justified if it saves hundreds of others?"
"There's gotta be another way," Clark said desperately.
Chloe put her hand to her head. "Okay, well, what about, um, what about the vessel? I mean, why doesn't this Zod guy come fully composed?"
"All Jor-El told me was that Zod's spirit would possess a human."
"And this is the same Zod whose hobbies include mass destruction and world domination?"
"Chloe, what if Lex is the vessel?"
"…That's why the ship took him. Lana said that Fine was preparing him."
"If I'm right, then I gotta kill Lex."
All three of them looked at one another in horror. Could Clark really do something so horrible to the person who used to be his best friend?
None of them realized that Lana had overheard the last sentence of their conversation.
Chaos.
Everywhere.
If this wasn't Armageddon, it sure was pretty freaking close.
"Chloe!" Clark called, running through the crowd of panicking people at the Planet. "Em! Chloe?"
Chloe and Emmeline ran into the room towards him.
"What's going on? Street lights are out."
"You tell me." She flipped around one of the desktop computers so Clark could see the screen. Green Kryptonian symbols flickered all across the black background with Zod's symbol constantly reappearing.
"It's already reached Metropolis."
"You know where it started?"
"Smallville. Fine did something to one of Lex's computers. Thought if anyone could figure out what it was, it'd be you."
"It's an electronic virus and it's spreading faster than I can track it. After it scaled every firewall and knocked down all the communication, it's now infecting most of the city's infrastructure."
"All because of me. I refused to release Zod. Now Fine's trying to force my hand."
"Well, he's definitely playing hardball. Elevators, gas mains, subways, the entire city is shutting down. I mean, it's like Y2K on acid."
Chloe fiddled with the dials on her portable radio until she came across a news station.
"The complete and sudden collapse of the city's infrastructure has caused havoc and panic throughout Metropolis," a reporter announced. "Reports of scattered looting and violence are beginning to surface."
"Clark, if this continues, every major city in the world is gonna be infiltrated."
Bright light shone through the stained-glass window. Suddenly, a car burst through the glass heading right for them.
Using his speed, Clark pulled Chloe into his arm out of harm's way and used his other arm to stop the car from going any further.
Emmeline put her hand to her mouth at how close that had come to being completely disastrous.
Clark quickly started out the door.
"Clark, there's no use," Chloe said, tugging on his arm. "You can't save everyone."
"And I can't release Zod."
"Well, what if Jor-El was right? I mean, what if the only way to stop Zod and stop Fine and stop all of this is to just destroy that vessel?"
Clark couldn't believe a choice like this had been thrust on his shoulders. "What if something goes wrong? I don't wanna leave you both here."
"You have to."
With grim resignation, Clark once again headed towards the exit.
"Clark," Chloe called softly. "I don't know if I'm ever gonna see you again."
She ran up to him, took his head in her hands, and firmly kissed him on the lips.
The Clark/Chloe fan inside of Emmeline rejoiced, but other more dominant part of her that liked Clark was devastated.
Because this action reaffirmed that Chloe had much stronger feelings for Clark than she did and she'd had them for much longer. How horrible of a friend would Emmeline be if she ended up taking the very person Chloe wanted more than any other?
She could never, ever act on her feelings.
She couldn't hurt Chloe like that.
Clark ran off to go confront Lex or Zod or whoever the heck he was now.
Meanwhile, Chloe and Emmeline left the Planet and found themselves amidst utter and total chaos. People were smashing cars and lighting them on fire, taking anything they could get their hands on, and beating people up when they got in the way.
And the two girls were stuck right in the middle of everything with no way to get out and get home.
They linked arms to make sure that neither of them got lost and frantically tried to fight their way out of the crazed crowd.
Chloe paused when she saw a license plate that read 'LUTHR IV'. Pulling Emmeline with her, she banged on the car screaming, "No! Help! Please let us in! Help!"
The car door opened to reveal Lionel Luthor. "Get in," he ordered.
He moved to allow Chloe and Emmeline to quickly enter the vehicle.
"Ron, get us out of here."
The crowd smashed the windows and rammed the car back and forth, effectively trapping them inside the alley. They then pulled the driver right out of the car and into the crowd.
"Ron!"
The looters reached further inside and pulled Lionel out too.
"Mr. Luthor!" Chloe cried.
Someone smashed the window next to them and pulled Chloe out.
"Chloe!" Emmeline screamed.
Finally, multiple hands reached in and pulled Emmeline out of the vehicle as well. The two girls landed on the ground, restrained by everyone who had lost their minds amidst the worldwide power outage.
Emmeline reached her hand towards Chloe's as the blonde did the same.
But the distance between them was too great, and the people restraining them did not allow their hands to touch.
Phew! Well, it only took forever but Season 5 is completed! Thank goodness, I was so ready to be done with this season...
Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with me this far! I appreciate every single one of you! I will see you at Season 6! :D
